and another 30,000 were taken prisoner. Although this charge garnered for Ordener his promotion to general of division, Napoleon commented that Ordener was worn out. He followed this observation with the frequently quoted prediction, "I think we have no more than five or six years left of him." In the 1806 campaign against Prussia, Ordener commanded a division of the elite Imperial Guard cavalry. After this campaign, he became a senator and was appointed to first equerry to the Empress Josephine. In this responsibility, he supervised the care of the empress's horses, and acted as her senior aid. Michel Ordener's daughter, Josephine-Eugenie Ordener, was one of Josephine Bonaparte's ladies-in-waiting. He also received the Order of the Iron Crown. In December 1808, Ordener was raised to Count of the Empire by Napoleon. The following year, Napoleon nominated him as governor for the imperial Château of Compiegne, where he died in 1811 of an attack of apoplexy. He is buried at the Panthéon. François Joseph Lefebvre, Duke of Danzig, another of Napoleon's generals of plebeian origins and with whom Ordener had developed a long-standing friendship, gave the eulogy: "It is not because of simple regrets and because of honorable mourning that we must recognize the services of a warrior who has dedicated his whole life to his fatherland and his prince. Let us give public testimony to his virtues, to his merit, to all the qualities that have made him esteemed by the Emperor and that have rendered him dear to his friends and to his family. Let us praise him today at least, because his modesty can no longer prevent us, and let us not fear to offend a virtue that he has loved so much during his life." Family Michel Ordener married Madeleine-Françoise Walter while he served in the quartermaster corps. They had two children, a daughter mentioned above, and a son. The son, also named Michel, was born in Huningue, on 2 (or 3) April 1787 and attended the special military academy at Metz from which he graduated on 8 December 1803 with the grade of sous-lieutenant (second lieutenant) and an assignment to the 24th Regiment of Dragoons. He also took part in the expedition to Spain and the subsequent invasion of Portugal in 1808. He was promoted to colonel and chef de brigade of the 30th Regiment of Dragoons. The Dragoons received battle honors for their participation at